Report on the Dainj-Farming of the North-west of France. 311 
is made near Gournay, and largely in Paris from curd sent from 
the same district. For the manufacture of the former a greater 
or less quantity of cream is mixed with the milk, before adding 
the rennet ; and for the latter a large quantity of cream is mixed 
with the curd after the whey has been expressed, either on the farm 
or in Paris. The mixture of cream and curd, whether made in 
the country or in Paris, is rolled in cylindrical lumps, weighing 
about 3 oz. each, in paper bearing the name, address, «Scc., of 
the maker. These little cheeses are carefully packed in boxes 
lined with clean well-cut lengths of straw, which are also used 
to keep the rows of cheese in the box from impinging upon 
each other. The price realized for the cheese very much de- 
pends upon its appearance when sold to the restaurateur, or the 
private consumer ; therefore great care is bestowed upon all the 
details of the packing. The straw is carefully combed to get 
out all leaves and adventitious matter, and is then cut by means 
of a fixed sharp knife, into the exact lengths required. It seemed 
to me remarkable that so simple a process of manufacture should 
not hitherto have been adopted in England, as such cheeses, 
imported from France, have a considerable sale in London at 
high prices. 
Camemhert. — Of all the soft kinds of cheese made in France, 
the Camembert, when properly manufactured, is no doubt the 
king. Its rivals are the Brie and the Coulommiers, but the 
more unwieldy shape and shorter season of the former, and the 
restricted manufacture of the latter, deprive their competition 
of any serious importance. On the other hand, the popularity 
of the Camembert has so increased the demand, that many of 
the smaller, and especially of the newer, makers take too much 
toll in the shape of cream, before they commence the process of 
cheese-making, and thus tend to kill the goose that lays the 
golden eggs. When properly made, the Camembert quite 
deserves the eulogium passed upon it by the Reporter of the 
Jury, at the Paris Dairy Show in 1874: "It surpasses in 
delicacy everything that the ingenuity of the cheese manufac- 
turer has been able to invent, to flatter the most fastidious 
palate."* This result cannot, however, be obtained witbout 
great care, some experience, and especially a most watchful 
attention to the details of the process of curing. Many of the 
successful makers of this kind of cheese believe that they 
possess a valuable secret in their method of procedure, and not 
unnaturally are averse from giving technical information to a 
possible competitor, or even to an outsider. I visited several 
Camembert dairies, which are generally situated in the Pays 
* Kichardsou, op. cit., p. 165. 
